Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip.

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of laying the groundwork for the mass expulsion of Gazans across the territory’s border into Egypt.

Israel pounded the Gaza Strip from north to south yesterday in an expanded phase of its two-month-old war against Hamas, after the United States wielded its UN Security Council veto to shield its ally from a global demand for a ceasefire.

The family of Mahsa Amini have been banned from travelling to France to collect a top rights prize awarded posthumously, their lawyer said yesterday.

13 Security Council members voted in favor of a brief draft resolution, put forward by the UAE, while Britain abstained

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber yesterday urged countries to get out of their comfort zones and work together to reach agreement before the two-week summit ends.

Israel sharply ramped up strikes on the Gaza Strip, pounding the length of the Palestinian enclave and killing hundreds in a new, expanded phase of the war that Washington said veered from Israeli promises to do more to protect civilians.

Israeli TV appeared to show Thursday scores of stripped Palestinian men sitting on a Gaza street in military custody, with a London-based news outlet saying one of its journalists was among them.

The US embassy in Baghdad was attacked with two salvos of rockets yesterday morning but there were no casualties, an embassy spokesperson said.

Gaza’s health system is on its knees and cannot afford to lose another ambulance or a single hospital bed more, the World Health Organization warned yesterday.

The world needs to focus on phasing out coal, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei said yesterday on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, in a rare move on Wednesday aimed at formally warning the Security Council of the global threat from Israel’s war on Gaza.

Heavy urban combat raged in and around Gaza’s biggest cities yesterday as the bloodiest ever war between Israel and Hamas entered its third month since October 7.

Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hamas in southern Gaza yesterday after reaching the heart of the city of Khan Younis, forcing Palestinian civilians to seek refuge elsewhere as the number of safe areas decreases.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell accused nations of “posturing” at the COP28 talks in Dubai yesterday and urged them to reach an ambitious deal to ensure the world meets its targets against global warming.

The United States, Canada and Kenya were among 63 countries to join a pledge on Tuesday to deeply cut cooling-related emissions at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.

Government pledges for climate adaptation at the COP28 summit have fallen far short of the target, with officials warning that resources to build resilience to wilder weather and rising seas could be diverted into a new “loss and damage” fund instead.

Released under a prisoner-hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, former Palestinian detainees have described beatings, deprivation and a radical deterioration in conditions in Israeli jails following Israel’s Gaza offensive on October 7.

Battle lines on fossil fuels hardened at UN climate talks yesterday despite scientists warning that global warming could breach the 1.5C threshold within seven years.

The World Food Programme said yesterday it was suspending its food distribution in Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen because of funding cuts and disagreements with the rebel group.